Microsoft to improve eyecare in India

There have always been the efforts made by medical department to improve Eyecare in India. This time Microsoft has made a great effort to improve Eyecare by using machine learning technology. Microsoft will be working with one of the most prestigious hospitals in the country, The L V Prasad eye institute in Hyderabad.

Microsoft’s main focus is on children, with ambition to predict outcome for refractive surgery and the rate of change of myopia in children. Myopia is a condition in which close objects appear clearly, but far ones don’t. India has reported more than 10 million cases per year of myopia. Myopia can last for years or it can last lifelong.

Microsoft has announced that it is launching a new research group, the Microsoft Intelligent network for Eyecare with the purpose to bring data driven Eyecare services to India. Machine learning technology is a type of artificial intelligence which can bring huge benefits to medical research by analysing medical data. Earlier Google’s Deepmind opted instead to partner with the UK’s national heart service to analyse eye scan and related data to spot the disease of myopia. At this moment Microsoft will have to rely on digital scans of the eye to determine the correct treatment for common eye conditions as was the case with Google’s Deepmind.

The problem Microsoft may face is that the scans are highly complex and till date the analysis tools which are available traditionally have been unable to explore them fully. Computer aided diagnosis is not the new concept of technology but, tech companies are in the favour of doing their research in the field of medical science.

“This highly innovative and exciting research is so crucial… It is a future illuminated with hope,” says Elaine Manna, patient at Moorfields.

Eyecare is turning out to be a popular strategy for non traditional companies to test the potential of machine learning in the worlds of health care. Eyes conditions lend themselves well to image analysis, a space that’s having quite moment.